worowa

I'ld love some Big George. How I long for Ichigo strawbs, since I left Tassie I haven't found any, but they're my pick of what I've tasted so far.

H2O2 can kill spores, so be careful. I recently tried catching some king stropharia, and dropped spores onto peroxidated agar-about a week later, and most dishes had mould, but 1 appears clean with mycelium! Good luck

Just thought I'ld let you mycophilles know ther was a segment on "The Cook and the Chef" on the ABC last wed, available as a podcast or download, using all different sorts of edibles-some good tips. The agar terrine looked interesting. Sorry I don't know how to put links in messages.

I've just checked my liquid cultures of reishi, one is malted milo in water, the other is jam in water, and they're booming. I left them in storage, and I've been camping for a month or so. The mycelium has totally covered the surface of the liquid. I had a few plates that had contamination, so I put a chunk of reishi mycelium on each plate, and in most cases the reishi appears to overwhelm the competition. I've got cultures that travel in the car with me, and they all seem fine.

Peppermint pellargonium is great, fluffy enough to pick up poo, and leaves a cool, clean smell!

If you can get "Shimeji" from the supermarket, it's probably Hypsizygus ulmarius, the White Elm oyster. I bought some, chopped the shrooms off the butt stem, and ate them. The butt that was left, about the size of a golf ball, I shoved into a pop corn and wheat mix, that was left over from earlier. It had a blob of mold in it, so I pulled out the mouldy lump. In less than a week, mycelium was all over the grain, no further contamination probs. I'm also growing this species on my used coffee grounds-I put some colonised grain in a used yoghurt container, and every day I top it up with yesterdays coffee grounds. The mycelium are visble each day, having made their way through the coffee. Hope that helps.

Top stuff! Alfoil wrapped around your marcot helps prevent big temp swings.

Not really. Jack fruit is a huge plant with huge fruit, tastes like a banana/mango sort of thing, but there is a lot of variation, and it has big edible seeds that taste a bit like almond. It's tropical, but does well here, out of Bellingen, some frost, so who knows its' limits? Monstera is a vine in the shade, that can climb right up tall trees, or if in the full sun it's more like a shrub. The fruits are only edible when the the outer layer falls off, otherwise they've got nasty crystals that hurt your tongue. You can pick them unripe and wrap em in paper for a few days, helps keep flies out and speeds up ripening. They are in a league of their own-my kids go crazy when they hear the paper unwrapping, sweet, creamy, fragrant...delicious. As for sally, biggest one I've seen was in full sun, leaves got a bit scorched, but very healthy.

Monstera deliciosa, the delicious monster, does well if full shade or sun, and as the name suggests, it's delicious.

Not far from Bendigo and Daylesford is Trentham Falls. Plenty of goldies, and a waterfall you can walk under into a cave. Good camp fires amongst the gums.

Just read this thread. I used to live in Bendigo, and would go shrooming in the pine forests of Mt....Jeez, what's it's name, near harcourt, Mt Alexander. Might be a bit late, but the seasons aren't rigid.

I'm pushing 40, with two piccaninnies 2 and 4yrs old, who I adore. The kids have stretched me mentally and emotionally, there's nothing like it-wonderful yet frustrating and overwhelming. My dingo cross is 11, and together we've travelled around Oz, living with 3 different Aboriginal mobs who each adopted us. I love gardening, and I've worked as a gardener on and off for most of my adult life. Mainly edibles and medicinals, I like permaculture. Spent too long at uni, studying Agricultural Science, then Psychology, then Outdoor Education, then Naturopathy for a year. Thought of combining Psych and Naturopathy to become a Psychopath, but there's enough already. In between I've been a security guard at an airport, worked with kids with complex behavioural problems, and guided groups through canyons in the Blue mountains. A big cliff fall, about 15 metres, could have killed me, but instead it just smashed my leg up. My ligaments are all stretched and torn, so I have to watch my step or else I'm in pain for days to weeks. I've thought long and hard about allsorts of things, I love philosophy. My san pedro inspired meaning of life was "Live Love, Love Life"...easier said than done. I love time alone, but rarely get it these days-kids and partner who I can't stand being away from for long... Verging on Atheist, but can't shake the Agnosticism. I pray religion dies out. I'm cynical, judgemental and hypocritical, but I'm also honest and perceptive and kind. I love animals, and they seem to love me. Somehow avoided the authorities during a very stupid and reckless youth, I've since matured into a fairly sensible adult. Just don't tailgate me.. That's enough about me for now. Oh yeah, I'm glad I found this community-I've been a bit of a solo ethnobotanist since??

I'm considering getting some sort of air purifier to minimise contamination in my mycology lab (lounge room). I don't think I want an ozone generator-too many free-radicals. Ionisers sound good, and they supposedly have health benefits. Have you used one? How did it make you feel? The one I'm looking at has a HEPA filter, so hopefully it'll decontam the place. Cheers

G'day Torsten, I can't answer all your questions, but I can share my experiences. In 2000 I had intense recurring pain in my upper right abdomen, so after a week of pain I went to a Doctor. She examined me and suggested I had gall stones, and her advice was lay off the fatty food and come back in a week, at which time she would organise surgery if I still had a problem. I jumped on my bike and headed home, on the way passing a big wormwood, the silvery Artemesia absinthum. I remembered something about it being a bile stimulant, so i snapped off a couple of bunches and headed home. When I got home I ran a hot bath, and put the kettle on. I brewed up a strong batch of wormwood tea, and a pot of dandelion and chicory root (Bonville I think, readily available). Yes they are bitter, and my belief is the taste buds are directly implicated, so I recommend copping it, but I'm accustomed to the taste now, and enjoy black coffee and other bitters. Anyhow, when I was in the bath I drank my teas, and after maybe 10 minutes, my gall bladder let out a deep rumble, really loud, and I could feel something moving inside. I've been pain free since. I don't know which tea did the job, but I shared my experience with my 83 year old granny in law, and she followed suit. Her doctors where amazed when they did the second lot of scans, and cancelled her surgery. An old time remedy I haven't tried was to drink a cup of olive oil! I guess it super stimulates the gall bladder. Good luck, and give it a go, the bitters aren't that bad, and don't add sugar or milk to the dandy.

Yeah, cardboard seems good, I've done a few transfers onto cereal boxes to keep strains alive, but I'm not to sure what goes into cardboard these days-just try burning some. Maybe it's harmless waxes, but there's more to it than cellulose. I definitely wouldn't use junk mail or magazines, but some newspapers might be ok. I was hoping someone else might have done the research, as I'm a bit lazy, but if no one else has the answers, then I'll do some research and share it. Jeez, it'ld bloody awesome if most of our newspapers are cool to use. Apparently in the USA they've switched to soy-based inks.

Very interesting! I realise this topics a bit old, well the thread at least, but it's sparked my interest. Does anyone know which newspapers are safe to use? Which ones in Australia use soy based print? Are there any studies on other potential toxins in newspaper such as dioxins? If there's a good newspaper, I might start buying some again, as this would be perfect in my permaculture guild. Love your work mycophilles

I've been told NOT to eat the yellow stainers since I was a piccaniny, but I met an old couple in the domain in Hobart picking them, and when I warned them they told me they'ld eaten them for years with no problems! Confusing? Well most sources say avoid yellow stainers, and that's the choice I make. They are supposedly only slightly poisonous, causing gastro, headaches and sweats in some people. By the way, I'm referring to Agaricus xanthoderma.

When I cut mine, I dust the wounds with sulfur, this helps them dry out and is anti-fugal. Hope that helps.

G'day, has anyone got some old Aztec chocolate recipes? I remember reading somewhere(?) years ago a recipe including cocoa, tagetes lucida, and chilli. I never wrote it down, and can't remember the other ingredients or proportions.

http://fungimap.rbg.vic.gov.au/fsp/photos/sp090.jpg Here's a good photo of fruit body and sclerotium

G'day, I'm tring to get hold of some Fistulia hepatica, Hericium clathroides, and maybe some Laccocephalum mylittae. Have any of you tried culturing any of these? I'm keen to give them a go, if I find some I'ld be happy to pass some material on for others to experiment with.

Check out this whopper naja http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/fungimap_/__data...L31_colour2.pdf scroll down a bit. Maybe I'll just hunt for the Lacco in the wild, probably a complicated mission to get edible sclerotium from cultures. Still keen on the others.

Good stuff naja, I was imagining Laccocephalum mylittae to look like a shroom I came across on River Red gums for some reason. An old Yorta Yorta mate of mine refered to it as "Blackfellas Bread", and it was a a soft spongy fruiting body. Maybe it was the same species, maybe not. Thanks for the photos, are you going to try and ID it using spores or a taxonomic key? If you're sure it is Lacco. myl., then I'ld be keen on some spores or a culture, could do a trade. Cheers

Thanks for the tips, I'ld be really keen on some Hericium clathroides ed., sounds just as tasty as erinaceus. Naja, no, I don't think thats Fistulina hepatica. It's called the Beefsteak fungus, because it looks a bit like a slab of meat, reddish coloured (or liver, hence hepatica). Could be related. In other parts of the world its sometimes eaten either raw and finely sliced, or cooked. Has a sour taste. I haven't tried it myself yet.

There's a nice tree in a park on the southern approach to Innisfail, at least it was there b4 the cyclone. That's the only one I've seen in Oz. There are I think 3 species of cocoa. I'll probably go to a good chocy shop and buy some quality buttons made with real cocoa fat. If you find a good source, let us know.